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y herbal it is a flower meadow in may or june humming with bees light butterscotch medium bodied with all the ripe fragrance of the washback lightly charred white oak tablet shortbread and caramel body smooth velvety building to clean warmth palate wow appley honey soft biscuits ww unbelieveable smooth with sweetness growing to spicy dark malty richness finish honey mist vanilla ice cream quite nutty syrupy wood and fruit caramel shortbread fades elegantly posted by james saxon at 04 19 no comments labels aberfeldy dewars highlands signature tour visits saturday 19 september 2009 highland park 12 year old 40 dram 26 separate northern most despite the differences this is no stranger how bizarre that the 25 year old should have preceded this into my notebook i first sipped was speechless with wonder due to the 12 year old in a hotel i had it in a pub next but i was unable to conduct a proper thorough tasting until i unwrapped a bottle last christmas on the two previous occassions i had nevertheless noticed and liked its semi rich biscuity maltiness and the peat character which is so entirely different to that found on islay from the beginning i understood that it was no mean dram distilled in this area that stretches the rules governing regional frontiers and even those of scotland to the limits of relevance highland park is a case study of why i adore the single malt industry orkney is a smudge of rock sand and grass whose northward vista is comprised of a few more similarly improbable scatterings of land and the beginnings of the arctic circle yet it produces a whisky every malt lover spares singular affection for and which is moving in on the most prolific shifters of premium single malt logic tumbled out of the st margaret s hope ferry and drowned original tasting note tasted 11 1 09 colour pale gold nose wow pillowy soft peat full and green an underlying smouldering sharpness the sea salt of handmade crisps added to the malt thick spongecake sweetness ww peat becomes harder and hotter fruit does the same boiling raspberries and blackcurrants beautiful spicy malt body medium to almost full palate charred wood white grape tang chocolate digestives creme brulee topping finish sea and seaweed long and smoky excellent but just the end of the palate the revamped packaging shows off the product particularly well the flat bottle with the ornate calligraphy that celtic viking h hints at a very authoritative no nonsense spirit an impression not contradicted by pouring a little into the glass and inspecting the hue a smooth beaten gold indeed there are no shrinking violets or superfluous flavours in the nose either the malt and the peat mount a combined attack the former eager semi aggressive and fruity the latter medium dry rich and delicious that biscuity quality that put me in mind of a certain manufacturer s granola bars which i m rather fond of i modified to ginger biscuits there is an extremely fresh sea breeze note together with some delicate honey there is the sharp pungency of new wood as well as a quiff of dark supercharged oloroso it is a complete and complex canvas marvellously presented with water it becomes softer lighter and develops the sweetness of boiling mash the peat is transformed and has acquired a liqueur chocolate nature this supports the round zesty malt toast and honey in addition to a vague impression of hard rocks concludes the outstanding aroma the medium and firm palate presents a unique architecture the peat acting as the sconce for the powerful sherried malt it grows beer y and almost froths with the skins of nectarines i recommend all things cosy and warm with the exemplary finish it is long and dissipates with epic control lime and almost chocolatey maltiness are flavours of note there is nothing like highland park it just has everything but in the proportions you would want i am deeply keen on getting hold of the 18yo and the 30yo courtesy of miniatures which the edrington group are jolly good sports for releasing posted by james saxon at 05 44 1 comment labels highland park highlands my leaderboard revisions saturday 12 september 2009 glenkinchie distillery visit 3 i suppose i had better develop the knack of distillery writing as i shall be doing an awful lot of it in less than eight months time the journey to glenkinchie for my 19th birthday was nowhere near as taxing as the one undertaken for my 18th at auchentoshan just as well perhaps as my responsibilities in the world of work have grown slightly more inhibitive in the intervening time glenkinchie was chosen for this very reason it being the closest of scotland s malt disitilleries from my home in northumberland and so not requiring hours in the car the selection of this distillery was not made i hasten to add was not made on the grounds of expediency alone there has been a nagging gulf in my tasting experience for two long now i may have tasted four auchentoshans but it is the only representative of the lowla nd region in my notes thirdly glenkinchie will be the first stop on my whisky cycling tour so this was something of a recce too so instead of glengoyne which we passed quite close to last year my family and i went to sample the edinburgh malt the drive to glasgow of last year whilst long compensated for this with epically stirring highland scenery on the way back we unwittingly drove passed our turn off and less than twenty minutes north of glasgow it was as if we were driving along the west coast the lammermuirs did not present quite the same kind of backdrop upon which light could project itself in a visually arresting way top r ight however this is truly the garden of scotland with rolling fields of cereal crops tumbling all the way to the firth of forth at the end of the day it was yet another idyllic scottish landscape the distillery is tucked snugly into the cleft between two particularly bumpy fields top middle right on stepping out of the car the atmosphere was still with a real warmth issuing from the sun ripening the last grains still outstanding it isn t a large site perhaps on a par with auchentoshan but the aesthetics are different for it is done out in functional but attractive victorian red brick bottom middle right the tell tale distillery fragrance was late to appear i was almost in the door before i could detect the pungent cearealy sweetness of barley being given what for three tour tickets purchased we were sent upstairs to the exhibition space formerly the floor maltings there we spent fifteen minutes or so reading hrough the excellent display on distilling and scotch i loved the scale model of a distillery that found its way back to glenkinchie from london in the 1960s to be lovingly restored and rebuilt i am a huge fan of proce sses and to see each part of a self sufficient distillery plant before me was utterly fascinating the detail is superb bottom right those would look great on either side of the fire mused mum speaking of the replica wash and spirit stills we together with about eight others congregated at the assembly point where charlie came to greet us and fulfil the more immediate need of turning off the diageo classic malts video that was stuck on repeat as glenkinchie does not correspond exactly to the scale model in all of its processes charlie explained in excellent depth the malting stage as we would not see a practical demonstration on our tour he apologised in advance lest he fell into the scottish tendency to speak too fast he didn t which was probably just as well as i believe we saxons were the only britons charlie led is all outside towards the production buildings no cameras or mobile phones allowed while informing us about the distillery s malt needs 126 tonnes a week for 14 processes of 9 tonnes each all equating to 55 000 litres of glenkinchie being produced a week they have malt deliveries almost everyday something i could attest to for on our journey to the distillery a simpsons malt truck passed us going the other way we were shown the redundant kiln then the not redundant at all mill next we were taken upstairs to the enormous but presently empty mash tun each process of malt will get three charges of water at successively higher temperatures for the reason that and it was one he would use consistently at every stage that received fastidious recovery the scottish are a race that does not hold with waste there is a bell in the mash room retained from when the malting still operated the manager would ring the bell telling the maltmen that their shift was at an end they would come into the distillery receive a jug of the 9 abv wash and then cycle home you can t get away with that now he said rather whimsically passed the yeast store and up more stairs our little party plodded and into the washback room six six metre high washbacks gurgled and frothed at us five of oregon pine a fact that provoked one of our group to raise his eyebrows he turned out to hail from oregon and a sixth of canadian larch each contained a wash that was slightly more advanced than the last and indeed one of them was not opened for our inspection at the risk of beer boiling out over everything i scooped a bit of air out of a couple of the washbacks not sticking my head in and taking a big breath as charlie had warned against nevertheless the carbon dioxide from one leapt up my nose with a ferocity akin to a head butt reeling we proceeded to the balmy still room i find it astonishing how such an odd shape can be so beautiful the pair of stills are just enormous and filled the room not just with heat they were distilling at the time but also with a soft golden glow with the aid of sunlight falling through the translucent roof the same roof that had to be taken off when the neck of the wash still was replaced last winter short of a wee nip of glenkinchie in the bar that was our tour at an end i was almost hopping mad that we weren t taken to the warehouses because new stock is filled into casks and matured centrally apart from that omission value was had out of our 5 ticket especially after my frugal and scottish mother look advantage of its redemption with the purchase of a 70cl bottle i had phoned the day before to enquire about more in depth tours and if they were available as they were at auchentoshan i was assured correctly as it turned out that the standard tour was very thorough i was content with a miniature glenkinchie the clean floral and amlty dryness with rubbery tropical fruits and creamy juicey vanilla not quite wonderful enough to justify a full bottle purchase i ll finish on the missing element of the warehouse and some more diageo bashing on my part ever since the glenlivet the warehouse has been the stage of the process that has enchanted me the most and made me feel the most privileged to have overseen here after all is where spirit becomes scotch and each distillery s micro climate and its potential effect over years on maturing stocks can be felt their size construction and function produce the most awesome peacefulness and together with the heavenly aroma here is where the angels preside after all they border on cathedrals for malt with that kind of devout significance i know my darling caol ilas are not matured on site either but i think that as one of the six classic malts glenkinchie should be allowed to speak entirely of the region it represents in the diageo portfolio and being as it is one of only five in the whole of the lowlands come on guys you place so much emphasis on scotland and its quirky geography in your promotional and informational medias i should know i saw the video four times so put economy aside please and tap into the real essence of regional variety character and authenticity posted by james saxon at 05 03 no comments labels diageo edinburgh glenkinchie visits wednesday 2 september 2009 glenmorangie lasanta 46 dram 23 quote warmth and passion a tasting note in itself i can t disagree would you believe it but until the lasanta late last year i had not nosed beyond a measure in a pub a glenmorangie with glenfiddich i was even worse it must be said waiting until february of this year 16 months into my whisky journey to bother tasting the most iconic scotch whisky brand it was nothing personal i might add other drams kept coming into my life and stealing focus original tasting note tasted december 2008 colour light caramel with gold highlights nose wow intense sherry on oozing over layer waxy fruit a gentle heathery sweetness ww sweeter still fine grains of sugary aroma hard metallic malt dusty crumbly peat pastries and cakes body smooth complicated choreography of mouth feel palate rich and fruity sweet a scrumptious malty sponge cake finish vanilla raspberries quite long quite tart too apricot jam like as the auchentoshan of my last post underlines by this time i was beginiing to get my eye in with this tasting business and during the autumn and winter i enjoyed a higher frequency of tastings recently i have marked off at a particular tasting note in my notebook where i felt a transition of my skills and or knowledge occured and the period of september to march undoubtedly witnessed rapid development and the acquisition of a skill level i found it easy to return to after the exam sabbatical this glenmorangie was a component of that period although only now has it been evaluated by the senses it helped to hone in such a significant way still unsure as to whether i had treated the original glenmorangie extremely unfairly i sat down to revise the sherry matured 10 year old which had received a decent but unexceptional 66 previously so how now brown cow i am a big fan of the latest packaging range i believe it contributes to the impression that what you are drinking is more unusual exclusive and expensive than the actual price point would suggest of course the whisky itself hits above its weight too as i discovered it looks very attractive in the bottle and equally so in the glass a pale softly textured amber on the nose i enjoyed a much more assertive initial introduction than the original was prepared to give me sharply and thickly floral and fruity the distillery is on the dornoch firth but this was the first time i was able to detect any geographical influence in the whisky there is a light line of quite salty peat that rises from the lowest notes to the highest there is also a sweet soft and gentle bonfire smokiness that i seriously liked the malt is perfumy but also puts me in mind of a plain sponge that has been kept in the cupboard in a tupperware box for a few days the sherry lends walnuts and almonds as well as fruitiness to the aroma and this in turn provides heat it is very very good that warmth and passion is preserved with a drop of water while the rest of the nose becomes softer and much sweeter the salty peat smoke has remained too at the very centre is a soft squishy ball of sherry currants pecans replace the almonds and the shells of the walnuts e...